Why it works: Cucumber and radish match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 212 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓
Sliced Cucumber Pickle
Ingredients
Directions
Brine the cucumbers
Place cucumbers in a jar or pail.
Cover with boiling water and add a small handful of coarse sea salt.
Cover closely and repeat this process for three mornings.
Spice and pack
On the fourth morning, scald enough cider vinegar to cover the cucumbers.
Add a piece of alum and horseradish root to the vinegar.
Tie mustard seeds, ground cloves, and ground cinnamon in a small muslin bag and add to the vinegar.
Slice cucumbers ½ inch thick and place in glass jars.
Pour the scalding vinegar over the cucumbers and seal tightly.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
-
Cucumber + radishtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together212 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Radish + mustardtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together297 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Cucumber + mustardtop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,281 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Horse + radishtop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together529 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).
-
Cucumber + walnuttop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together380 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cucumbers
- Provide the main body of the pickle, which softens and absorbs the brine and vinegar flavours.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws water out of the cucumbers through osmosis, firming them and helping them keep their crunch.
- Cider vinegar
- Supplies the acidity that preserves the pickles and gives them their sharp, tangy flavour.
- Alum
- Hardens the cucumber tissue, helping the pickles stay firm and crisp.
- Horse-radish root
- Contributes a sharp, pungent aroma and heat that infuses into the vinegar.
- Mustard seeds
- Release pungent flavour into the vinegar, adding a sharp, spicy note.
The step that matters
Pouring the scalding vinegar and sealing. The vinegar must be hot when poured over the sliced cucumbers so the jar seals properly and the brine penetrates evenly. Sealing tightly while hot helps keep the pickles preserved and protected from spoilage.
Swap the walnut
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cucumber, cider, vinegar, horse, radish, mustard, clove):
- Beansfits better
- Sesamefits better
- Chickpeafits about as well
- Walnutthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against cucumber, cider, vinegar, horse, radish, mustard, clove. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
More cucumber pickles recipes
You might also like
Horseradish Sauce23 recipes
Horseradish Butter6 recipes
Ham in Cider10 recipes
Tomato Soup526 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.